


Too Late?

by ThatTrashQueen



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Drinking, Eventual Smut, Gay Richie Tozier, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Partying, Reddie, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22563865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatTrashQueen/pseuds/ThatTrashQueen
Summary: Richie shows up for an after-hours visit with Dr. K after a run-in with Bowers. A night of partying goes wrong, and secrets are revealed.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Too Late?

**Author's Note:**

> Here! A Reddie for the soul!  
> Hope you like it!

Richie winces as he touches his nose. Praying to whatever god listening that it isn’t broken. He couldn’t believe he was this stupid. Honestly, he still doesn’t fully understand what possessed him to go to the damn party in the first place. But after getting the shit beat out of him he decided to just take off. The dim street lights gave off a yellow glow, making the night look almost sickly. A bit of fog rolling through the mostly empty streets. As he stumbled through Derry he glances up at the empty night sky, wondering where his drunken mind was taking him. When he finally realized he was in the backyard of one Edward Kaspbrak. Looking up into his window. He sighs as he pulls his phone from his pocket. It rings, and for a moment he’s sure the other isn’t going to answer.

“Yeah?” a sleepy voice answers

“You up?” he asks, using the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his chin. 

“I am now.” Eddie huffs. Richie can see his small desk lamp click on.

“Awesome. Can I come up?” he asks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“What the hell do you mean?” he gets up, walking over to the window. “You know what time it is right? It’s almost two in the morning Richie.” he scolds. Though his words sound sharp they carry no weight.

“Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna open the damn window, or not?” he groans. Over the years the boy has become an expert on climbing the trellis. He has always been convinced if Ms. Kaspbrak knew he came in that way the woman would tear the damn thing down with her bare hands. He hears Eddie huff over the phone as he gives in, and opens the window. “Hell yeah. See you in a sec.” he says, hanging up and pocketing his phone. 

It was usually easy for him to get inside, but usually, he wasn’t drunk and bleeding. He stumbles and catches himself on the bookshelf. He can’t help the smile that slips across his busted lip when he sees the shorter male. 

“Richie! What the fuck?” he says, rushing over to him and helping him cross the room. As he looked him over, he notes his injuries. Aside from his lip, his nose was slightly swollen, his left brow split and his eye was certainly going to be bruised in the morning. 

“Yeah, good to see you too, Eds.” he chuckles. Eddie rolls his eyes and grabs Richie by the wrist. He pulls Richie across the room and forces him to sit on his bed.

“Stay right here!” he commands. Rushing out of the room to retrieve the first aid kit from the bathroom. Richie looks around his room, noting the open book on the bed. He wonders if Eddie fell asleep while studying again, he always pushed himself too hard. 

Eddie sighs heavily as he sits the first aid box down next to Richie.

“Sorry that you have to take care of my dumbass.” he says, looking up at him. Eddie gives him a soft smile, shaking his head as he opens an alcohol wipe. 

“What the fuck happened anyway?” Eddie asks, lifting a brow as he starts to clean the blood from Richie’s face. The boy hisses softly as Eddie brushes over the cut on his eyebrow.

“Well,” he takes a long pause, “Had a run-in with Bowers at a party.” he answers simply.

“A Party?” he asks, lifting a brow as he grabs another wipe. “With who? You never go to parties alone.” he adds. Richie looks away from him as he questions him.

“Yeah, no. I wasn’t alone.” he acknowledges. “I went with…” he mumbles the name to fast for Eddie to catch it.

“Who?” he urges. 

“Connor.” he mutters a bit louder this time. Eddie stops, letting his hands drop to his side as he scrunches his nose at Richie’s response. 

“Connor Bowers!?” he questions. “No wonder you got the shit beat out of you! Are you stupid?” he disapproves. 

“Are you really that upset?” he seemed confused when Eddie snapped at him.

“Yes! For some reason, you’ve decided that you want to go after Bowers’s cousin. Like you have a fucking death wish or something!” he replies, raising his voice for a moment before he catches himself. Quickly adjusting his volume, not wanting to wake his mother.

“Woah.” he exclaims. “Take a chill pill, Eds. It’s not like him and I are dating or some shit.” he didn’t like the feeling that was welling up in his chest. Thankful that the fight with Bowers had sobered him up a bit. 

“Why did you come here?” he asks, huffing heavily at Richie’s words.

“What?” he seemed taken back by his question. His stomach twisting into knots.

“Why did you come here, Richie?” he repeats, slower. 

“I just started walking.” he stammers. “And I couldn’t go to Bill’s, cause Stan is over there. And Mike’s uncle doesn’t like me.” he continues. 

“Let’s be honest. You came here because you knew I would take care of you. Because you know that out of all my ringtones yours is the loudest so I never miss a call from you. Because no matter what I am going to be here for you.” he snaps. Richie blinks at him, unsure of how to react to Eddie’s words.

“No.” is the best he could come up with.

“No?” Eddie echoed.

“That’s not why I came here. I guess I came because in a drunken haze with blood dripping from my face the only person I wanted to see was you.” he says, grabbing Eddie’s wrist. “Because the whole night I kept thinking about how much better it would be if you were with me instead.” he looks up at him again. “Because I missed you.” he states. He pulls the smaller boy to stand closer. Eddie can feel his face heat up as he looks down at him.

“You’re so stupid.” he huffs. He stays close to him as he finishes cleaning Richie’s face. 

“There.” he says, patting Richie’s cheek. Richie smiles softly up at him, seeming a bit perplexed. “What?” he bided. 

“Are we just not going to talk about what we both just said?” he questions. Eddie averts his eyes, huffing. 

“What is there to talk about?” Eddie was getting tired of all the questions. He just wanted to lay down and be done with all this.

“A lot, Eds.” he sighs. “We don’t have to. We can just both forget what was said or put it off till later but,” he pauses, grabbing Eddie’s hand “I meant every word I said.”

“Rich, I- You’re drunk.” he tries to discredit. He hated this, it was stupid and there was no reason they needed to talk about anything. 

“I’m a little drunk, Eddie. That doesn’t make me a lair.” he scoffs. He opens his mouth to speak again but is cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. He tugs the device from his pocket, the screen reading ‘Connor’. A picture of the boy sticking his tongue out fills the screen. 

“Oh my god. Of course.” he groans, rolling his eyes. “Go on then. Answer it.” he sighs. 

“No. I don’t have anything to say to him.” he remarks, sitting his phone aside. “Why do you get so mad when he’s brought up? Even when I mention him in front of the others you get pissy.” he asks.

“Did you miss the part where he’s Bowers’s cousin?! And he’s just toying with you. He doesn’t even like you.” he spouts. Richie blinks at him, clearing his throat as he runs a hand through his hair. 

“Yeah?” he sneers. “Well, neither does anyone else so!” he tosses his hands up in defeat. “Because fuck Trashmouth right?” 

“I do! But you never noticed! Because I’m just your best friend! Just Eddie Spaghetti, good old Eddie.” he vents.

“Wha- Eds. What are you saying?” he stammers, speechless for once. Eddie blinks at him, stunned that he just blurted out his secret. “Are you serious?” Richie asks. 

“That’s not something I’d joke about Rich.” Eddie assures, starting to panic. He rubbed his forearm slowly as his breathing starts to quicken. Richie is quick to reach over and grab his inhaler from his nightstand and offer it to him with a soft smile.

The pair sat next to each other in silence as Eddie calmed himself. It was probably only a few minutes but to Richie, it felt like hours. He cleared his throat before he spoke. 

“Why didn’t you say something before?” he asks, his voice much softer now. 

“And ruin our friendship?” Eddie manages, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew there was no way out of this conversation now. “No way, I wasn’t risking losing you all together.” he explains.

“Losing me? Eds, that’s crazy talk.” he says, resting a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, I like you too.” he explains. Getting a glance from Eddie. “For real. No stupid Trashmouth jokes right now.” he promises. With his heart in his throat, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips to Eddies. For a second, Eddie panicked and considered pulling away. But it made his heart flutter, he had wanted this for years. He slowly pulls back, letting out a soft sigh.

“I just- I didn’t know how to tell you.” Eddie says, resting his hand on Richie’s cheek. “So, does this mean you’re my boyfriend now?” he chuckles. 

“If you want me to be. Your mom’s gonna wonder why I’m dumping her though.” Richie teases, fighting back a smirk. Eddie scrunches his nose and pushes Richie’s shoulder, causing him to laugh. 

“Beep beep, Richie.” he rolls his eyes, a gentle smile on his face. It quickly fades with the Trashmouth’s phone rings again. Connor’s name flashing across the screen again. Without a second thought, Eddie snatches the phone off the bed and answers it. “What?” his words, sharp.

“Richie? Where’d you go? I’ve looked all over for you?” Connor asks, not realizing who had answered the phone. 

“Listen, I’m only going to say it once. Leave him alone. Don’t call, don’t text, just get lost. Understand?” he sneers. Before Connor had the chance to answer Eddie hung up. Stuffing Richie’s phone in his nightstand. Richie stares at him, slightly dumbfounded by what had just happened. “Fuck that guy.” Eddie huffs. Richie grins, tugging Eddie closer for another kiss. He snakes his arm around the smaller male’s waist forcing him closer. Eddie makes a small noise against his lip, his face heating up quickly as Richie tries to pull him closer.

“Your lips are so soft.” Richie chuckles against his lips. Eddie huffs, rolling his eyes at him.

“We should go to bed.” He says, patting his cheek. He scoots away. “You can stay but you have to leave like super early. Cause Ma comes in to check on me at like seven.” he says, setting an alarm on his phone for six in the morning. Sighing when he sees that its almost three in the morning.

“No wonder she makes me leave at six-thirty.” he jokes, winning himself a glare. “Sorry.” he says, laying back on Eddie’s bed. He watches as he turns the light off and lays down next to him. Richie drapes a hand over Eddie’s waist and scoots closer to him, pressing his chest to his back. “Good night.” he whispers softly into his hair. 

“Night.” Eddie whispers back.

It doesn’t take long for Richie to fall asleep, leaving Eddie alone in the dark with his thoughts. As their group grew, he watched all his friends fall in love. Their freshmen year Bev and Ben had admitted their feelings for each other. Followed by Bill asking Stan out at the start of their sophomore. Eddie had always envious of Bill and Stan. Sure, not a lot of people knew they were together. And if Stan's dad knew he would probably shit a brick. But at least he got to hold Bill’s hand when it was just the Losers. He had always wanted to do sappy things like that with Richie, his best friend. Now here he was, wrapped in his arms. He felt his heart swell with happiness, content to drift off to sleep here. 

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter two will be up as soon as I finish it.  
> I hope you like it! I have a few other Reddie ficts in the works.  
> Please tell me what you think, I love hearing from you all!


End file.
